Two New York City cops found not guilty of rape charges

Thursday

May 26, 2011 at 11:55 AMMay 26, 2011 at 11:56 AM

New York Post

NEW YORK -- A New York City cop accused of raping a drunken, semi-conscious, 27-year-old fashion executive in her apartment and his partner who allegedly served as a lookout were found not guilty of rape and burglary Thursday by a Manhattan jury.

Officers Kenneth Moreno, 43, and Franklin Mata, 29, were cleared of all felony charges of rape, burglary and falsifying business records.

The two officers were each convicted of three misdemeanor counts of official misconduct after jurors found that they knowingly refrained from their duties during three return trips to the drunken accuser's East Village apartment in December 2008.

During the trial, Moreno told jurors he lay alongside the woman in her bed for a while, but that he never had sex with her.

"I told her, 'There's another time for this. Not tonight.' ... I kind of had her by the shoulders, and I said, 'We're not doing this,'" he told jurors.